After a patient has been caused injury by a medical professional
or hospital, they will likely consider whether there’s is a case of medical
malpractice. Further, if it is medical malpractice, is it worth pursuing a
lawsuit? There are a number of legal and financial considerations to be made
when determining the merit and the economic implications of a medical
malpractice lawsuit.

It is true that anyone injured by medical negligence has the
legal right to file a lawsuit demanding compensation for their damages.
However, medical malpractice lawsuits are expensive, and the damages may not
justify the cost of investigating, preparing, and prosecuting a lawsuit against
the doctor or hospital responsible.

Legal Elements in a Medical
Malpractice Case

The first thing that must be established is whether or not the
case is meritorious. Whether or not a medical malpractice case has merit is
determined by the legal elements required by medical malpractice tort law.

Patient Injury or Death

In order to have a valid medical malpractice case, it is
necessary that the patient have suffered some kind of injury or damages. When a
lawsuit is filed, it is demanding that compensation be paid for all the damages
incurred. Without damages, there is nothing for which to seek compensation,
thus nothing to sue for.

Doctor or Hospital Negligence

Another critical factor is evidence of medical negligence. This
is proven through the discovery process, where a medical malpractice lawyer
will obtain all the associated medical records, witness testimony and other
evidence.

Causal Link Between Injury and Medical
Negligence

The third legal element required is a link that establishes the
medical negligence contributed directly to the patients injury. Even if
negligence took place and the patient suffered some type of injury, if the
negligent care wasn’t the cause of the injury then it is not a valid medical
malpractice case.

Money and Damages in a Medical
Malpractice Case

Once the legal requirements have been established, and it’s been
shown that it is indeed a meritorious case, the money has to be considered.

Compensation for Damages

In a medical malpractice case, the lawsuit is filed demanding
compensation for all economic and non-economic damages. This is how the value
of a medical malpractice case is determined.

It is important for a medical malpractice lawyer to take into
consideration the value of any particular case, and weigh it against the cost
of prosecuting the lawsuit. Even if a case is strong from a legal standpoint,
it may cost more to prosecute the lawsuit than the award or settlement amount
would be.

The Mathematics of Medical Malpractice

The math that determines whether or not to prosecute a medical
malpractice lawsuit is pretty straight forward. There are three elements: Value
of the case, cost to prosecute the lawsuit and attorney fees.

Generally, the attorney fees will be paid out of the settlement
or award money, and will be a percentage based contingency fee of between 33%
and 50%. Keep in mind, this is usually a percentage of the amount after the
legal costs covered by the lawyer have been repaid.

Whether or not it would be worthwhile to file that lawsuit
depends on whether or not the expected award would be enough to cover the cost
of prosecuting the case, the attorney fees and still provide a large amount for
the injured patient.

Determining the Value of a Case

Determining how much money to demand in a medical malpractice
lawsuit is a function of determining all the damages, calculating compensation
for each and summing it up. Of course, only an experienced medical malpractice
lawyer can determine how much to demand for each of the damages.

Types of Damages

There are a few different types of damages for which a medical
malpractice lawsuit will demand compensation.

Medical Expenses

Future Medical Expenses

Lost Income

Future Lost Earnings

Cost of Permanent Medical Care

Pain and Suffering

Loss of Consortium

Punitive Damages

Determining the value of a case requires placing a dollar amount
on each of the relevant damages and summing them up. Obviously, some are much
more complicated than others. Medical expenses and lost income are fairly
simple, but how would you calculate future lost income? And what about pain and
suffering, how can you place a value on that?

Only an experienced attorney can determine the value
of a case, but generally, pain and suffering compensation will net the largest
amount of money.